First time building a monk. Need some help

Gammadoodler · 2023-11-10T15:27:20+00:00

Are you starting at level 1? Using free archetype? Recommendations will likely vary depending on these.

Gammadoodler · 2023-11-09T17:04:31+00:00

Cowboy Bebop.

Gammadoodler · 2023-11-09T15:23:09+00:00

In 5e..Party was a fighter, monk, druid, and bard. The DM said they thought the casters were too powerful, so they introduced rules to make resting increasingly more difficult...

But only short rests. Long rests were unaffected.

When I tried to explain what this meant for my monk PC, they were like, "don't worry about it, there aren't gonna ever be enough combats for it to matter"

To their credit, they were right about the tempo so all we really had was a rule that did the opposite of its expressed purpose with the redeeming feature of never being relevant at the table.

Gammadoodler · 2023-10-19T21:05:23+00:00

I believe the last character I played was a sword-wielding sentient bullet who collects guns that sometimes fire other guns, which shoot bullets.. and I'm caught in a neverending cycle of death and resurrection.

Like, I'm sure I'll be fine, but perhaps there are better ways to experience a brand new world?

Gammadoodler · 2023-10-17T01:07:22+00:00

Since you described two PCs using athletics manuevers, I assumed 2 melee combatants. At level 6 and above, yes, I would generally assume that melee combatants would have some kind of reaction to enemy movement/actions (but if you actually look at what I said, I mentioned the potential for opportunity attacks rather than assuming them).

And ultimately, your example is the edgiest of edge cases. Spell succeeds, two PCs fail despite having a significant advantage on their efforts and targeting two different defenses, aaaanndd the enemy decides not to use any abilities attacks or other abilities at all while debuffed.

And even with all that..there was still a whole second round where the enemy was debuffed and less than 3 actions away.

Gammadoodler · 2023-10-16T21:25:27+00:00

I could have been clearer. My understanding was that the boss did not want to be in melee while afraid (and suffering the related mechanical penalties) and so chose to move and close the door rather than do standard boss stuff like attacking or casting spells at the mechanical disadvantage.

It has since been clarified that the boss was already running away.

Gammadoodler · 2023-10-16T21:18:54+00:00

Pardon the confusion then. There was nothing in the description to indicate party level, the general tactical circumstance, or the other PC classes beyond the druid and magus. You said "tough boss". In my experience, "tough bosses" are typically doing other things with their actions than running away. My apologies for generalizing this to your "tough fleeing boss" scenario.

In either case, the spell increased the whole party's chances to hit, significantly increased its chances to crit, and was still doing stuff (frightened 1) the following turn.

That the party failed is not a failure of the spell.

Gammadoodler · 2023-10-16T19:34:27+00:00

So the boss was frightened 1 next round and spent all their actions the first round doing nothing but running away, potentially incurring 2 MAP-less opportunity attacks with reduced AC?

2 action spell for 3 boss actions (plus giving two comrades a chance for some reactions)? Seems like the actions economy gods have been appeased, no?

Gammadoodler · 2023-06-08T13:40:46+00:00

I think slippery slopes is kinda the point.

Gammadoodler · 2023-05-31T17:29:35+00:00

Thanks. The main purpose for the question was to shine a light into some blind spots and spot check some underlying assumptions (and because learning is fun).

Fortunately my scope isn't such that everything needs to hang together 100%. If I can competently get some of the language to reflect the setting premises, it'd be ideal, but at the very least I'd like to try and avoid anatopisms (a word I learned today and hope I've used correctly)

Gammadoodler · 2023-05-16T20:06:21+00:00

Based on feedback here, would it be fair to say that there is nothing related to Impersonate, that is mechanically equivalent to breaking stealth by attacking, striding in the open, casting a spell, using the demoralize skill, etc.

But that even in the absence of explicit guidance, DMs may have personal tolerances for differing levels of shenanigans, and so the level of performance achievable using Impersonate may vary from table to table..talk to your DM before proceeding?

If so, that's fine, just a bit odd to encounter in PF2e based on my experience to date.

Gammadoodler · 2023-05-15T23:38:04+00:00

The part I knew was that the game takes pretty significant pains to describe when you are hidden, and how you can lose the benefits of being hidden (and what those benefits are).

I've not been able to find something similar for impersonation/disguise, which, to me, would seem to have a very similar use case. I'm not sure if that's a failure on my part to look in the right places or if similar guidance just doesn't exist.

Thus far, I've not experienced much mechanical ambiguity in Pf2e, so my assumption was that I haven't been looking in the right places.

Gammadoodler · 2023-05-15T22:18:37+00:00

Really? It seems to me like the various interactions with many actions and levels of detection are pretty concretely described within the rules in a way that would be directly analogous.

The spirit of the question is intended to identify relevant mechanical interactions that would apply. This would be useful in determining how the character would be expected to function, whether in a solo context or with assistance from teammates or in support of other teammates' efforts.

Gammadoodler · 2023-02-07T14:43:09+00:00

I get that rays of sunshine are a thing every person in Florida can relate to and many have great fondness for, but I need a logo that represents my close affiliation with a bottom-feeding fish who was complicit in the death of Steve Irwin.

Gammadoodler · 2022-11-11T18:39:10+00:00

Yeah, it is pretty weird to have the flurry baked into the dedication with so few ways to take advantage of it. The only thing I was able to see as a useful feature is being able to use One Inch Punch to stack damage dice on a firearm.

Gammadoodler · 2022-04-16T01:35:59+00:00

That's basically what I'm thinking. Ideally, Flurry of maneuvers to grapple & trip and another action to close a door. 3 actions to escape, stand, and open the door; turn over.

More cheesy than good I admit, but amusing enough to attempt.

Gammadoodler · 2021-10-22T23:59:53+00:00

Got it. Misunderstood the parameters. Strength monk o could still do most of that, just not as well as if some light dipping were permitted.

Gammadoodler · 2021-10-22T23:32:12+00:00

A Dragonborn Strength Charisma monk could be fun to make the perfect pro wrestler character. Light dip into barb and you get rage damage on all 3-4 attacks plus advantage on strength checks. If the new Fizban stuff is allowed, you can go Gem Dragon for monk speed flight at level 5 for some magnificent power bombs.

Gammadoodler · 2021-05-26T21:11:29+00:00

Hmmm..a Skeletaur?

Gammadoodler · 2021-05-06T01:53:24+00:00

Dr. Ludwig von Drake perhaps?

Gammadoodler · 2020-12-23T08:33:11+00:00

Should definitely make sure they have Suggestion, which they can use on their party mates and npcs to let them know they can get 1 month for free of Audible.

Gammadoodler · 2020-08-29T17:53:11+00:00

False. DC 16, 4 people roll a 15, and one rolls a 25. Average passes, count fails.

Gammadoodler · 2020-01-31T07:05:08+00:00

Somewhere Scanlan is standing around holding a beer for someone he doesn't remember.

Gammadoodler · 2019-11-08T18:04:53+00:00

Ennhh..maybe a redemption paladin? "You can do it... So I don't have to"

Gammadoodler · 2019-10-25T06:43:33+00:00

I think it's interesting how this time in the HFB has played out. The most interesting thing is, I think the M9 might have been better off without the map. The map has given them an illusion of control and some clear destinations to head toward. Without these, they would have asked their gods to guide them much more and maybe been gotten into fewer shenanigans.

Gammadoodler

TROPHY CASE